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This story, presented by WHDH-HDTV, which, from what I’ve heard, is one of the largest and most respected TV news organizations in the region… What do I know? I haven’t watched any appreciable terrestrial broadcast TV in over 10 years…. anyway… that story raises a pet peeve of mine. The story starts with the following sentence:
A man who never thought he would walk again is walking proof that miracles really do happen.
Are you kidding me?! I mean the article gets much, much worse… grammatically, factually… real-world-ily.
If you were not already hip… this blog post I wrote back in 2006 should give you an idea of my feelings on the reporting of miracles in the media, and miracles in general. This one may also shed some light on my feelings.
I decided to write the TV station:
To whom it may concern:
Your piece about the Marshfield man, whose recovery may be ruled a miracle, troubles me.
The story talks about miracles as if they were common, matter-of-fact elements of reality, like death, taxes, and baseball.
There is a significant discrepancy between the web story, and the “related video”, in that the web story states flatly that John Sullivan is “walking proof that miracles really do happen.” That is, to put it mildly, a wildly extraordinary claim, made by WHDH. The video story says that he “… says he is living proof that miracles happen.” That is also a wildly extraordinary claim, but one made by the subject of the story, not your writers. The video is not without its flaws, however. The graphic that shares the screen with the anchor during the story’s lead-in says “MIRACLES HAPPEN”. Do you have any evidence to back up this wildly extraordinary claim?
I refer you to this blog post of mine for my position on miracles:
http://www.ursuspacificus.net/blog/index.php/2008/04/20/its-a-miracle/You may also find this enlightening:
http://www.ursuspacificus.net/blog/index.php/2009/01/17/miracle-on-the-hudson-my-foot/This also touches, tangentially, on miracles and the news media:
http://www.ursuspacificus.net/blog/index.php/2008/04/20/taking-cartoons-too-seriously/Your story is chock full of undefined references and rhetorical dead ends. It is nearly unreadable, and certainly unbelievable. Here are some examples:
“A man who never thought he would walk again is walking proof that miracles really do happen.” — There is no effort made to validate this claim.
“Several of John Sullivan’s vertebrae were squeezing his spinal cord and discs, bulging out and causing debilitating pain.” — Vertebrae are bone, and do not bulge.
Who is/was Cardinal John Henry Newman, and why pray to him? Why not pray to Joe Pesce?
“Sullivan eventually did go through with the operation, but it yielded major complications.” — Complications, such as… success?
“He has never felt the pain again.” — Objection: Hearsay.
“Sullivan sent a petition to England - notifying the postulator of a divine favor …” A petition?… like canvassing door to door, getting signatures? …and England? How does England play into this? Did he send it to … Parliament? Michael Palin? Richard Branson?
…and this, the last “sentence” of the piece, I have to say, is the capper (and I QUOTE): “The Pope is now expected to say Sullivan a miracle, after his severe spinal trouble healed in a way that mystified his doctor” OK, first, let’s wedge the word, “that” between “say” and “Sullivan”. Then, let’s make “Sullivan” possessive… “Sullivan’s”… better… now, insert “recovery is” between “Sullivan’s” and “a miracle”. Oh-kaaayyy… replace “after” with “given that”. After “doctor”, put “,whom we didn’t bother to interview for this story”. Finally, put a PERIOD. This makes the last sentence:
“The Pope is now expected to say that Sullivan’s recovery is a miracle, given that his severe spinal trouble healed in a way that mystified his doctor, whom we didn’t bother to interview for this story.”
…Wow.
Sincerely,
Paul Tourville
Warwick, RIhttp://www.ursuspacificus.net/
… I don’t know if it’ll do any good… but… one can hope, can one not?
Here’s Rep. Barton trying to make a fool of Nobel laureate Dr. Steven Chu:
Here’s my response:
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Brick Tamland: Conspirator? Tool? Unwitting Victim?
Consider the evidence and decide for yourself!
Well… Sure, it’s not the first time ANYONE’s gone kayaking this year… but it’s the first time I’m going!
I’ll be taking my Prijon Touryak,
and putting in at Slater Grover Memorial Park,
probably around 10:30 or 11:00AM.
I’ll be staying in the protected basin, there, north of the park, and possibly heading up the Pawtuxet River a little bit. I’ll probably do about 4 or 5 miles today… kind of ease into it 
Hey, everybody!
In an effort to make NewsUndies easier to find (and share) I’ve spun them off their own website: www.newsundies.com
So, just for the record, the full-blown NewsUndies show will be weekly from now on, with new shows posted on Friday.
You can still see all the NewsUndies on YouTube, and new shows will be announced here, with links to NewsUndies.com, but the embedded videos will no longer be here… They’ll be at NewsUndies.com, and on YouTube.
Thanks for watching! We’ll see you next week on NewsUndies… all the news that shouldn’t be news!
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You do know the Earth is trying to kill us, right?
We’re a virus with shoes.
–Bill Hicks
Stephen Hawking is not at all well, according to this BBC report. Hardly surprising, considering considering he’s been living with “motor neurone disease” since the 60’s, and now he’s in his 60’s.
The thing I hate about this is that he’s been “ill” for 40 years. “Chest problems”?! What does that mean?! Have his ribs randomly re-arranged themselves?! Could we get some meaningful information, please?… OR… just shut up about it.
I hate being given these leading, teasing bits of gossamer… almost meaningless …information, and then being denied any substantial detail.
Well, for what it’s worth, I hope he gets what he wants.